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CREATED:20130630T200600Z
DESCRIPTION:It is nearly 2,200 miles from the home of El Nopal in neighboring Mexico to
Santa Cruz County. Yet, those who love this essential ingredient of Mexican
cooking need not book an airplane flight or pack themselves into the family
car to experience the culture and culinary wonder of nopales. Lovers of the
prickly cactus need only travel to downtown Santa Cruz this July to enjoy a
truly community building event celebrating this native food, the 4th Annual
Festival del Nopal.\n\nFor hundreds of years, the cactus, particularly the
prickly pear cactus, has long been a staple in the diet of many Mexican and
Latin American people. Also revered as a source of national pride in
Mexico, the prickly pear cactus is featured on the Mexican flag with an
eagle standing atop the cactus and a serpent caught in its beak to
symbolize the location where the ancient Aztecs were instructed by their
gods to build the great City of Tenochtitlan, where Mexico City now stands.
It was this native pride that gave rise to the original idea for a local
celebration of el nopal.\n\nIn 2010, a group led by Santa Cruz City Council
Member Tony Madrigal formed to organize and plan the event now known as the
Festival Del Nopal. From its modest beginnings in an open space next the
downtown library, the festival has grown rapidly and now welcomes several
thousand festivalgoers and lovers of nopales every year.\n\nNow in its
fourth year, the 4th Annual Festival del Nopal has settled into its new
home on Lincoln Street in downtown Santa Cruz, appropriately enough on the
site of the weekly Farmer’s Market. Once again, people will travel from
all over the Central Coast to dance to the bandas, enjoy the folkloric,
laugh with the clowns, enter their own family recipes in the cooking
contest and applaud the crowning of the Queen of the Festival. \n\nBut what
makes the Festival del Nopal truly unique is the opportunity it provides to
experience a Mexican heritage and culture that is such a vibrant part of
life on the Central Coast. Festival organizers are justifiably proud of the
contribution this event makes to community building and cultural
understanding in our home region. They believe that the richness of our
ethnic diversity can be celebrated through the mutual enjoyment of dance,
song and food. \n\nIt is said “as el nopal binds the food of life, so it
will create the bonds of friendship and family for all those who join
together in its celebration and enjoyment”. So come join the family of
el nopal in downtown Santa Cruz on Sunday, July 28th from 10-6. \n\nViva
Nopales! \n\n\n\n\n
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/30/18739124.php
SUMMARY:4th Annual Festival del Nopal
LOCATION:Downtown Santa Cruz on Lincoln Street in the Farmer's Market space.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/30/18739124.php
DTSTART:20130728T170000Z
DTEND:20130729T010000Z
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